The invention relates to a continuous-casting installation, and more particularly, to a horizontal continuous-casting installation having a take-off device supported upon a frame. The device comprises at least one drive-roll adapted to be driven by a motor and at least one counter-pressure roll adapted to be pressed against the drive-roll by a press-down device, the axes of said rolls preferably running parallel.
In a known continuous-casting installation, the shaft of a drive-roll runs horizontally, and is mounted directly in a frame. A counter-pressure roll is adapted to be moved towards and away from the shaft of the drive-roll by means of a press-down device held in the frame.
It has been found that the arrangement of the rolls described above, especially in the case of castings having large square or rectangular cross-sections (e.g. in excess of 25 cm.sup.2), results in gravity having a disturbing effect upon the quality of the casting. In addition, it has been found that cooling conditions are highly unsatisfactory at the take-off of a cross-sectionally rectangular casting when a surface lies in a horizontal plane. These unsatisfactory results include a poor pattern of solidification of the interior of the casting, leading to differences in structure over the cross-section of the casting, and to the formation of increased segregation.